Case Number 22053: Small Claims Court

BURN NOTICE: THE FALL OF SAM AXE (BLU-RAY)

The Charge

Every man has a past. His just has more explosions.

The Case

I'm a fan of both Bruce Campbell and of Burn Notice, the USA on which
Campbell plays an entertaining supporting role. That means I should be exactly
the audience for the 2011 made-for-TV Burn Notice "prequel"
movie, Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe. It's too bad, then, that I
didn't like the movie (which, incidentally, is directed by Burn Notice
star Jeffrey Donovan) more.

After sleeping with a superior officer's wife, Sam Axe (Campbell) is
assigned to South America to track down a terrorist organization known as Espada
Ardiente. When he learns that the Columbian military is planning to destroy a
clinic and take over the region, Sam does his best to convince two doctors
(RonReaco Lee, Sister, Sister, and Kiele Sanchez of A Perfect
Getaway [also of my junior high school]) to join up with him and get
everyone in the clinic to safety. Eventually, they relent and believe him --
just in time to enter combat with the military. They hook up with a local girl,
Beatriz (Ilza Rosario), who connects them with the so-called
"terrorist" group -- which turns out to be a group of peaceful goat
herders. It's up to Sam and his rag-tag band of untrained rebels to fight back
against the military and save their country -- as well as their own lives.

Part of the problem is that The Fall of Sam Axe is telling a story
that's not worth telling. Sam Axe is a great character on Burn Notice,
but I don't really need a prequel to learn his back story (though the movie does
show us how he came to adopt the alter ego of Chuck Finley). If the producers of
Burn Notice wanted Sam to have his own spin-off adventure, they should
have just done that; filling in the gaps of how he got blacklisted from the CIA
isn't necessary information for his character, and the events of how that
happened aren't all that compelling. Plus, the movie lacks the fun, invention
and energy of the best episodes of Burn Notice -- there's no cool spy
stuff and the loss of the Miami settings is more of a hit than I anticipated
(it's been replaced by some generic jungle locations). Still, it's not without
action and a lot of humor, and it gives us 90 uninterrupted minutes of Bruce
Campbell being cocky and square-jawed and heroic. The narrative is lacking and
Donovan's direction feels small sometimes (especially because he's trying to
fake scope, and that's a hard thing to do), but the movie has enough going for
it that diehard Bruce Campbell junkies and fans of Burn Notice should be
able to find something to like.

Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe looks surprisingly good on Blu-ray
-- better, in fact, than the lone season of the series released on the format
(for some reason, only Season Two of the show is out on Blu-ray, and the
transfer was swarming with noise and grain). Colors are bright and vibrant,
detail is good and digital artifacting is almost nonexistent. The only thing
that brings down the visuals of the film is Donovan's flat direction; too often,
The Fall of Sam Axe looks and feels like the made-for-TV movie that it
is. Still, the Blu-ray can't be faulted for that. The 5.1 lossless audio track
is a little busier than it needs to be; while the explosions and gunfire are
appropriately aggressive, it's sometimes at the expense of dialogue or nuanced
separation in the channels. Still, the complaints are fairly minor and shouldn't
detract from anyone's enjoyment of the movie.

I'd almost advise picking the disc up if only for the commentary track
that's been included, which features Campbell, director (and co-star in a cameo
that tries to tie the movie into the series) Donovan and Burn Notice
creator Matt Nix. All three are very fast and funny, and while the track is
plenty informative, it's much more entertaining to listen to them goof on each
other and tease one another about their respective shortcomings. It's also fun
to hear Donovan, clearly a fan of Bruce Campbell from way back, admit to how
many Evil Dead and Army of Darkness references he wanted to work
into the movie, and how Campbell shot them down for fear of appearing too vain.
Their fun and enthusiasm is infectious, and I have to admit I had a better time
listening to the commentary than watching The Fall of Sam Axe. Also
included is a jokey making-of featurette, "The Fall of Jeffrey
Donovan," which charts his mental deterioration as he directs the movie. A
few deleted scenes and an enjoyable panel discussion from last year's Comic-Con
round out the bonus features.

I can't really recommend Burn Notice: The Fall of Sam Axe that
highly, even though I had an OK time with it. It's done well enough and Bruce
Campbell is always great, but anyone looking for a Burn Notice fix is
better off just watching some Burn Notice. I liked the movie just fine,
but I like the show better.

The Verdict

Bruce Campbell fans might get a kick out of it; all others can take a
pass.